Indian hockey defender Birendra Lakra wants team to strenghten defence

Birendra Lakra

After beating France by the narrowest of margins in the opening match of the Hockey World League semis, Indian defender Birendra Lakra expressed dissatisfaction at the fact that the team conceded 2 goals. In spite of having the majority of the ball (61%), the team ranked 9^th in the world required a last minute goal to beat the French, who are ranked 18^th in the world.

France shocked India by sounding the board in the 3^rd minute and despite India taking the lead in the second quarter, the French applied a lot of pressure on the Indians in the third quarter and got a deserved equaliser. The Indian side had to huff and puff and were made to wait till the final minute of the match for the winner.

The 25-year-old defender insisted on the importance of filling the gaps in the defence and warned that the tournament will get tougher with each match.

He said, “It’s a good start for our team, winning the first match, but we need to work on our defence structure and it has to be improved.”

Lakra gave his views on the team’s win over France in the tournament’s opening encounter.

“We kept the ball possession in our side and dominated the match in the last three quarters, but we conceded two goals, which is unfortunate for our team,” he said.

He was happy with the way the team is responding to the new strategies introduced by coach Paul van Ass, but admitted that there is room for improvement.

“Our new strategy is working in our favour, now we have to take it a notch higher in terms of defence.”

India’s next match is against Poland on 23^rd June at 7.30 PM.